Germany has recorded more than 100,000 cases of SARS-CoV-2 in 24 hours for the first time since April, the Robert Koch Institute, the country’s epidemiological watchdog, said on Tuesday.
The seven-day infection rate per 100,000 inhabitants more than doubled last week to 447, according to the same source. The index had peaked in March, around 1,700, due to the wave attributed to the Omicron variant.
The “summer wave” event was expected, commented the German Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach, via Twitter. “The voluntary use of masks indoors and the fourth dose of the vaccine are the best antidotes,” he added.
Most of the measures have been relaxed in Germany, one of the last European Union countries to lift all restrictions on the entry of nationals of other member states into its territory during the summer months.
At the same time, two of Omicron’s most contagious variants, BA.5 and BA.4, are on the rise. Within a week, the rate of BA.5 infections in Germany more than doubled to more than 10%, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute.
The two variants are expected to “spread more widely” and are likely to trigger an “overall increase” in the number of infections, especially in “vulnerable groups”, as early as the summer, according to the institute.
Mr Lauterbach plans to step up his immunization campaign so that the country is ready for “any eventuality” in the autumn. Berlin plans to spend € 830 million on a new vaccine designed to protect against the virus.
At this stage, over 76% of German citizens have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 while about 60% of the population has received at least one booster dose, according to official figures.
Europe’s largest economy has so far recorded around 140,000 deaths from COVID-19 out of a total of 26.9 million SARS-CoV-2 cases.
SOURCE: AMPE
Source: Capital
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